
Latest Articles about Europe's East

Belarus’s Presidential Race Seemingly Heats Up
Considering how front and center and ever present the novel coronavirus pandemic has been for months on end, it is rather stunning how the start of the presidential race in Belarus has managed, within only a week, to locally sideline news of the health crisis.... MORE

Moscow Orchestrates Controversy Between Bulgaria and Ukraine to Weaken Kyiv
Last week (May 20), pro-Russian legislative deputies in Bulgaria and pro-Moscow ethnic-Bulgarian politicians in Ukraine protested a decision by the Ukrainian government to redraw administrative borders in Odesa Oblast. The Kremlin-leaning ethnic-Bulgarians who expressed their objection said the move was intended to divide their more-than-200,000-strong... MORE

Plutocratic Opposition Surging in Moldova (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Moldova’s fugitive plutocrats, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor, are suddenly fighting back, using their jointly owned “anti-government bloc” in the Moldovan parliament. Plahotniuc and Shor had seemed quiescent since their departure 11 months ago. Now, however, they... MORE

Critical Water Shortage in Crimea May Prompt New Russian Move Against Ukraine
The Crimean Peninsula has long suffered from water shortages, but these are now often exacerbated by the ever-more frequent winters with little-to-no rain or snow. In the last several months, under Russian occupation, those difficulties have become critical: according to Russian officials, the region has... MORE

Plutocratic Opposition Surging in Moldova (Part One)
Fugitive billionaire Vladimir Plahotniuc’s godson, Andrian Candu, is spearheading an operation to regain a share of power in Moldova, under the guise of a parliamentary coalition. Plahotniuc was Moldova’s de facto ruler, flanked by Candu (then-chairperson of the parliament), until the June 2019 regime change,... MORE

Intrigue in Belarus’s Upcoming Presidential Election
Preparations for the presidential election in Belarus, scheduled for August 9, are now in full swing. May 15 was the deadline for the so-called initiative groups (IG), representing those willing to run, to apply for registration with the Central Electoral Commission. Altogether, as many as... MORE

Kyiv and Moscow Square Off Over Legal Arrangements for the Black Sea
Moscow’s continuing efforts to reduce the Black Sea to the status of a de facto Russian lake (see EDM, January 23) have forced Ukraine to seek increasingly inventive means of pushing back. Recently, some Ukrainian commentators have begun calling for a Timor Sea–type resolution for... MORE

The E40 Waterway: Economic and Geopolitical Implications for Ukraine and the Wider Region
On April 24, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a first reading of the bill “On Inland Water Transport,” finally codifying important planned reforms pertaining to riverine transportation in Ukraine—in particular, on the Dnipro River (Mtu.gov.ua, April 24). This new law creates a framework regulating the functioning... MORE

The Politics of Reform: Saakashvili’s Odesa Mission (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. While Mikheil Saakashvili served as governor of Ukraine’s Odesa Province (May 2015–November 2016), the region presented the former Georgian president with hurdles not only to system reforms but even to rational management as such. Those obstacles included:... MORE

The Politics of Reform: Saakashvili’s Odesa Mission (Part One)
Georgia’s former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has accepted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to chair the Executive Committee of Ukraine’s National Council for Reforms (Ukrinform, May 7). Taking up the new challenge, Saakashvili promised to draw on the experience of his universally recognized achievements in Georgia... MORE